2002 State of the Canary Address
Hello, my name is Avram Friedman. I'm the Executive Director of the Canary Coalition and I would like to thank everyone who is here and everyone who has contributed to the effort of the Canary Coalition either through volunteer work, by donating your talent, your business, media or political experience or by donating money. I would especially like to thank my staff members Paul Tapley and Diana Kirk for their tireless efforts and great contributions to this cause. And, I want to thank all the members of our governing and advisory boards for lending their names and experience in helping build the coalition. Your effort and your investment has begun to pay off. The Canary is flying high and its nest promises to be a little bit cleaner today because of your effort this year and last.
The Canary Coalition currently has approximately 450 members. There is one area in which we are having problems. We need more money. I am told that this is a constant struggle for non-profits. So, in this way we utterly normal. Our bank balance is just under $5,000, as of today.
However, in every other way, the year 2002, for the Canary Coalition, has, to this point, been a remarkable one. It has been filled with events that gave us public educational opportunities that have been utilized effectively. The Canary Coalition set up informational tables at Earth Day events in Sylva and Gatlinburg. The canopy and table appeared at musical and cultural festivals throughout the region. A PowerPoint presentation was developed and viewed by Rotary Clubs, Church groups, classrooms and local government officials accompanied by a speaker and representative from the Canary Coalition. The 2nd annual kids Clean Air Poetry contest was held in Jackson County with upwards of 300 participants, making further inroads into the schools and families we have to reach.
Our organization began the year by promoting our alternative proposal to a weak and compromised Clean Smokestacks Bill in the NC General Assembly. Now, in July, we are celebrating the passage of a strong Healthy Air Bill. Strong due to the efforts of this Canary movement.
At our last membership meeting in November of 2001 we had just released this new proposal to the General Assembly and to the Governor's office in response to the weak compromise proposal that had emerged. The Canary Coalition proposal called for the original high standards of S1078 to be restored intact. It called for a clarification of the ban on trading of pollution credits. It called for lowering costs to ratepayers by mandating that utility companies share the cost of implementation. It called for the governor and state agencies to use all available means to compel other states and the federal government to take necessary actions to reduce emissions, to the same degree as S1078, from coal burning power plants outside our state borders, affecting our air quality. We were the only organization in the state to make these specific demands and actively promote them to legislators, the governor and the news media.
The bill that just passed and became law in North Carolina meets all of these demands. That's the kind of effect the activities of the Canary Coalition is having. You should be proud of yourself.
Since November of last year major newspapers throughout the region published a series of op-ed articles by the Canary Coalition that defined our position and informed the public of the issues involved with the state legislation as well as federal legislation that is pending; and the issue of the New Source Review provision of the Clean Air Act
The winter months were spent corresponding with key legislators, the governor's office and other environmental organizations preparing for the opening of the 2002 legislative session in Raleigh. The strategy was to push for the strong aspects of the Canary Coalition Proposal, while demonstrating public support and resolve on the issue.
Key to carrying out this strategy was the release of a statewide petition by the Canary Coalition and the planning and carrying out of two 28 hour Clean Air Vigils in the month of May. Proclaimed the "Voter's Summit on Air Quality", the first one was held in Asheville on May 10th and 11th coinciding with the Governor's summit on Air Quality. This vigil was a tremendous success. More than 450 signatures were gathered on the petition we had just released statewide. Newspapers, radio and television coverage materialized at different times during the 28 hours of the event. 54 new members were gained for the Canary Coalition. Legislators and local public officials participated. The Governor's at their conference heard about our vigil. The music was great. Legislators and the Governor got the message that we are a determined group of people, there are many of us, we're gaining strength, and we want clean air.
Immediately after the Asheville Vigil, we began to prepare for the Raleigh Vigil, a mere 18 days away, and the opening of the 2002 legislative session. Other organizations began to express interest in joining the Canary Coalition for this event. By the day the Raleigh vigil arrived it was being co-sponsored by Appalachian Voices, Citizens for Transportation Planning, Clean Water for North Carolina, NC Interfaith Climate Change Campaign, NC Sustainable Energy Association, and Southern Appalachian Biodiversity Project. The stage was set for having a major impact on legislators as they began the session. Again we met with success. The vigil opened with a prayer session lead by members of the NC Interfaith Climate Change Campaign. 11 legislators spoke at the press conference we had arranged. Many others drifted by to chat with members of our group. TV cameras were present at various times, I was interviewed by a Raleigh News and Observer Reporter, National Public Radio came and the NPR reporter, after interviewing Harvard Ayers (who spent the whole night at the vigil), proceeded to put his tape recorder on the ground in front of the stage and record the music for more than half an hour. That's how good the music was.
Legislators were impressed by our display of determination and several friendly lawmakers mentioned to me how effective this event was. And they urged us to keep up the pressure until the bill passed.
At the end of the vigil we delivered the first 1500 signatures on the petition to Speaker Black's office. We left Raleigh on May 29 feeling that we had accomplished our purpose. We would continue to push the petition, urge our members to continue to call, write and email their legislators. And we would keep the news media informed of our activities.
On June 11, thirteen days later, the bill passed out of the Public Utilities Committee, by a vote of 12-1, where it had seemingly died in the last legislative session. The following day, having been moved to a fast track by Speaker Black, the bill passed on the floor of the House by a vote of 111-4. The following Tuesday, June 18, the NC Senate concurred 45-1. The Governor signed the bill into law two days later on Thursday, June 20. The fruits of our labor were realized. Together with other grassroots organizations working on clean air issues, we planned a celebration in the streets of Asheville that occurred on Saturday June 29. This celebration doubled as a clean air rally with the message on a banner spanning the outdoor stage that read "It's time for Clean Smokestacks Everywhere." That banner appeared on the news on television sets throughout western North Carolina that night. The event was covered live on the 6 O'clock news on WLOS.
Three days later, on July 1st, EPA Administrator Christie Todd Whitman visited the Great Smoky Mountains National Park to tout the so-called Clear Skies Program outlined by the Bush Administration. Nine members of the Canary Coalition went back to work and joined about forty people from five other organizations based in Tennessee and North Carolina to greet her and the media entourage with a different message. We recycled our banner from the Asheville street party. Whitman and the TV cameras once again zoomed in to the large black and red message, "It's time for Clean Smokestacks Everywhere!"
Although the passage of S1078 was a significant and historic victory for the Canary Coalition and the environmental movement, our work has just begun. To clear the air in our region the guidelines of S1078 have to be followed by legislators in other states and in the federal government. Existing federal laws have to be enforced in a way that they are not being enforced by this administration. The New Source Review provision of the federal Clean Air Act has to be implemented with the most strict interpretation possible. To realize these goals a massive groundswell of visible public support needs to be generated within our region and throughout the country. That is our job, at this point. The scale of this movement will have to be reminiscent of past mass movements in our country's history. We will need to conjure up images of the women's suffrage movement of the turn of the century, and the voting rights and civil rights movements of the 1950's and 60's. And the issue is similarly just, because breathing clean air IS an issue of civil rights. We have a right to breathe clean air. And no one has the right to pollute our air. We have a right to enjoy good health and natural scenery unencumbered by haze and acid fog. We have a right to un-acidified rivers, streams and farmland. We have a right to eat seafood that is uncontaminated by mercury. It's time to assert these rights. And that is what the Canary Coalition is going to be doing from this point on. Thank you.